This book examines the survivors of political violence and terrorism, considering both how they have responded and how they have been responded to following critical incidents. As this work demonstrates, survivors of comparatively rare and spectacular violence hold a mirror up to society's normative assumptions around trauma, recovery and resilience. Drawing on two years of observational field research with a British NGO who works with victims and former perpetrators of PVT, this book explores contested notions of 'resilience' and what it might mean for those negotiating the aftermaths of violence. Examining knowledge about resilience from a multitude of sources, including security policy, media, academic literature and the survivors themselves, this book contends that in order to make empirical sense of resilience we must reckon with both its discursive and practical manifestations. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, victimology, criminal justice and all those interested in the stories of survivors.

This book examines the politicisation of victims of terrorism and the reality of the victimisation experience within the broader field of terrorism and the resulting conflict. Victims of terrorism are a unique group of individuals whose experience is overlooked in the current literature on terrorism. Since 9/11, terrorism has risen to global prominence and has become a key topic of interest with regards to media attention and national security. As a result, many European countries (as well as the USA) have had to take active steps to protect and provide for the victims of terrorism, particularly given the nature of victimisation post-3/11 (Madrid) and 7/7 (London). Recently, we have also seen an increase in the political currency of the terrorist victim; for example, the lobbying activities and political involvement of the victims of ETA terrorism and the exceptionally powerful lobby in the USA that sees the involvement of victims of terrorism and their families in policy-making and law-enforcement transformations. This book is based on extensive field work in Northern Ireland, London and Spain and presents the results, which focus on the needs and experiences of victims of terrorism and political violence, and critically analyses these findings comparatively and in their own right. The aim is to assess the provision of support initiatives in Northern Ireland, mainland UK and Spain and understand if victims' needs are being met by these initiatives but most importantly to construct a picture of the local and international interpretation of the experience of victimisation by terrorism. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, victimology, criminology, security studies and IR.

This book examines the survivors of political violence and terrorism, considering both how they have responded and how they have been responded to following critical incidents. As this work demonstrates, survivors of comparatively rare and spectacular violence hold a mirror up to society’s normative assumptions around trauma, recovery, and resilience. Drawing on two years of observational field research with a British NGO who work with victims and former perpetrators of PVT, this book explores contested notions of ‘resilience’ and what it might mean for those negotiating the aftermaths of violence. Examining knowledge about resilience from a multitude of sources, including security policy, media, academic literature, and the survivors themselves, this book contends that in order to make empirical sense of resilience we must reckon with both its discursive and practical manifestations. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, victimology, criminal justice, and all those interested in the stories of survivors.

Security is undermined worldwide from political dissident activity and acts of terrorism targeted at innocent victims with no relation to the offenders. This political violence and terrorism plagues all continents and does not originate solely from jihadist groups. With a view towards developing more effective measures of prevention and resolution, Examining Political Violence: Studies of Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Internal War examines political violence in various national and international settings. A collection of works, some previously published as articles in the journal Police Practice and Research, the book provides both conceptual analysis and case studies, exploring historical and sociopolitical contexts of conflicts in order to help readers better understand these themes. Divided into three parts, the book begins by defining the concepts of terrorism and radicalization. It discusses countering terrorism through intelligence gathering, examines how a multiagency approach is necessary to be prepared for terrorist acts, and examines different policing models. It discusses the experiences of policing agencies’ investigations into terrorist groups, and examines the targeting of police officers by terrorist groups. Specifying the historical and sociopolitical contexts of conflicts is essential for understanding these themes. Control policies must be grounded in empirical realities, not ideological preferences or aversions. Bringing together theoretical concepts examined through operational and empirical findings, the book is written by academics researching the areas as well as practitioners working in the fields of counterterrorism and political violence. The conclusions drawn from these findings may assist in combating terrorism and political violence around the world.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1986.

This volume examines how both victims and perpetrators of terrorism are relevant to our understanding of political violence. While the perpetrators of political violence have been the subject of significant academic research, victims of terrorism and political violence have rarely featured in this landscape. In an effort to capture the vast complexity of terrorism, and to widen the scope of the agenda that informs terrorism research, this book presents a series of analyses that examines the role of the perpetrators, the experience of the victims, the public and media perceptions of both, and given the inherent intricacy of the phenomenon, how we might think about engaging with perpetrators in an effort to prevent further violence. By considering the role of the many actors who are central to our understanding and framing of terrorism and political violence, this book highlights the need to focus on how the interactivity of individuals and contexts have implications for the emergence, maintenance and termination of campaigns of political violence. The volume aims to understand not only how former perpetrators and victims can work in preventing violence in a number of contexts but, more broadly, the narratives that support and oppose violence, the construction of victimisation, the politicisation of victimhood, the justifications for violence and the potential for preventing and encouraging desistance from violence. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, victimology, criminology, security studies and IR in general.

The Oklahoma City bombing, intentional crashing of airliners on September 11, 2001, and anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001 have made Americans acutely aware of the impacts of terrorism. These events and continued threats of terrorism have raised questions about the impact on the psychological health of the nation and how well the public health infrastructure is able to meet the psychological needs that will likely result. Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism highlights some of the critical issues in responding to the psychological needs that result from terrorism and provides possible options for intervention. The committee offers an example for a public health strategy that may serve as a base from which plans to prevent and respond to the psychological consequences of a variety of terrorism events can be formulated. The report includes recommendations for the training and education of service providers, ensuring appropriate guidelines for the protection of service providers, and developing public health surveillance for preevent, event, and postevent factors related to psychological consequences.